A New York police officer of 12 years and mother of three was fatally shot early Wednesday as she sat in a command vehicle in the Bronx, authorities said.
Miosotis Familia, 48, was shot in the head shortly after midnight while she and her partner were in a marked police truck. She was taken to St. Barnabas Hospital, where she died, the New York Police Department said.
Familia was "assassinated in an unprovoked attack on cops" when a suspect shot through the window of the officer's vehicle, … [Read more...]

All three cases started with a traffic stop.
A black man is pulled over by a police officer.
Why?
He was missing a front license plate. For suspicious activity. Because a cop thought the driver looked like a robbery suspect.
Regardless of the reason, the outcome was the same for Samuel DuBose, Sylville Smith and Philando Castile -- none of them survived.
The police officers fired their weapons, saying they had feared for their lives.
The three shootings were on video, which was … [Read more...]

Over the last 30 days, federal authorities rounded up dozens of members of a violent California-spawned street gang in the New York City area, officials said Wednesday.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement announced that 39 members of the notorious MS-13 gang were arrested as part of the agency’s Operation Matador, a program designed to combat transnational street gangs like MS-13.
ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations New York and Enforcement and Removal Operations units recently … [Read more...]

Texas Southern University canceled a scheduled commencement appearance by state Sen. John Cornyn amid student backlash.
The historically black university announced Friday that Cornyn, a Republican, would not speak at the commencement ceremony on Saturday but would be invited back to the university for another appearance in the future.
"We asked Senator Cornyn to instead visit with our students again at a future date in order to keep focus on graduates and their families," the university … [Read more...]

JCPenney plans to shutter as many as 140 stores in the coming months, the latest traditional retailer to announce closings.
The department store chain did not disclose how many jobs would be cut, but it said it is also offering early retirement to 6,000 full-time employees.
Because it will hire to fill those buyout positions, the company said it expects a net increase in hiring, even counting the job cuts from closed stores.
The closings should take place by the end of June. The … [Read more...]

Thirteen women were arrested for disorderly conduct outside the Trump International Hotel and Tower during the "Day Without a Woman" march Wednesday, a spokesman for the New York Police Department said.
The 13 women were released Wednesday evening and will appear in court at an unspecified date. The police department would not comment on who was detained.
The Women's March said the detainees included Tamika Mallory, Linda Sarsour, Carmen Perez and Bob Bland -- several of the movement's … [Read more...]

More than a million people who turned out on Saturday for women’s marches in all 50 states have put down their placards, taken off their pink hats and ended their chants after what was an extraordinary display of dissent against the Trump presidency.
A critical question remains: What happens now?
The challenge facing the organizers is how to channel the resolve and outrage of an organic protest into action that produces political change. That goal has eluded other popular movements, from … [Read more...]

Crime victims report higher rates of gun ownership than those without weapons, according to findings from Gallup crime surveys.
Thirty-three percent of recent victims of assault, theft and property crime in the United States reported that they own a gun, compared to 28 percent of adults who haven't been recent crime victims, according to Gallup.
During its annual Crime survey, Gallup asks Americans if in the past 12 months they personally have been the victim of a number of crimes. In most … [Read more...]

Retail gasoline prices moved slightly lower on average over the last week, though U.S. infrastructure issues made for a volatile market, motor club AAA said.
AAA reports a national average retail price for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline at $2.21, just a fraction of a percent lower than the previous day and relatively unchanged from last week. The retail market is volatile, however, with the spread between the highest state-wide average of $2.79 in California is more than 40 percent … [Read more...]

The family of Sandra Bland reached a $1.9 million settlement in their wrongful death civil suit, their lawyer said.
Attorney Cannon Lambert made the announcement Wednesday.
Officials said Bland, 28, killed herself in 2015 in a Waller County, Texas, jail cell after her arrest on a traffic violation. A grand jury later decided no one would be indicted in connection with her death, and in August 2015 her family filed the federal wrongful death suit. The family said Bland should not have been … [Read more...]